Splashing into the bottled water debate

Project Green says tap water
perfectly safe

By Toby Rowe

A growing number of institutions and municipalities are eliminating
bottled water in their facilities. They are doing so based on
studies that suggest bottled water has negative social and
environmental impacts and that bottled water is often produced
under lower health and safety standards than public or tap water.
On the other hand, some argue that bottled water is convenient and
tastes better.

Bottled water has become a hot topic and Memorial is jumping
into the debate. Several groups at the university are looking into
the use of bottled water, including Project Green which is working
toward a ban on selling bottled water, and the MUN Students’
Union (MUNSU) which has been encouraging academic and
administrative units to officially put an end to the use of bottled
water in their facilities and at events.

There are many reasons to reduce the use of bottled water. The
City of St. John’s provides safe drinking water, and taxes
are collected to help cover the cost. Why would you want to pay for
water that has been bottled thousands of kilometres away when you
have unlimited access to tap water? The environmental impact of
producing plastic bottles, filling them in bottling plants,
transporting, and then disposing is significant. Bottled water is
often filtered tap water or sometimes taken from a spring or other
source. Communities where the water is sourced rarely see much
economic gain, as the bottlers may not have to pay for the
water.

St. John’s took a stand against bottled water last year.
It approved a policy in June that prohibits the use of city funds
to purchase bottled water for city operations and for functions
that the city sponsors. As the entity that provides safe drinking
water to the residents of St. John’s, it did seem like a
contradiction for the city to use and provide bottled water while
trying to cultivate a trust in the drinking water system.

Memorial’s Sustainability Office and the Advisory
Committee on Sustainability would like to encourage discussion
about drinking water at the university. The office will be
gathering input from staff, faculty and students on issues related
to drinking water at the university through a survey in the new
year. While it may seem fairly simple to stop using bottled water
on our campuses, information needs to be gathered to understand the
impact of such a policy at an institution the size of Memorial.

I support prohibiting the provision of bottled water at
university events and the purchase, by the university, of bottled
water for use in offices.

Kent Decker, vice-president (administration and finance), is a
strong supporter of sustainability initiatives on campus and
recently said, “Personally, I would be really happy if I
never saw another bottle [of bottled water] on campus
again.”

Student groups have similar opinions.

“By allowing the sale of bottled water on campus, Memorial
University is saying to the world ‘We believe the sale of
privatized water is a legitimate practice,’” said Peter
Smith of Project Green. “Really, it is one of the great evils
of our society today.”

Melissa Penney, director of campaigns with MUNSU, told me she
feels the use of bottled water is “not only wasteful,
damaging to the environment and potentially unhealthy, but it also
undermines public confidence in our – far superior –
public water systems.

“The city has responded to the public’s concerns,
and our next goal is to lobby the university to put an end to the
promotion and use of bottled water on campus.”

From speaking with staff, faculty and students, it is clear that
there are issues around banning bottled water that must be
addressed. For example, do employees, students and the public have
access to tap water on our campuses? If yes, why do some people
still avoid drinking tap water? Are there sufficient fountains and
can they accommodate containers for filling? If bottled water is
prohibited from events and meetings, would the university switch to
reusable glasses instead of disposable, non-recyclable cups? Does
staff have access to facilities for washing cups and glasses? If a
visitor wants water to drink and doesn’t have a container to
fill, will the only option be to buy a soft drink from a vending
machine?

We need to determine and overcome the barriers to tap water use
at the university in order to reduce consumption of bottled water.
The Sustainability Office would like to get your input on bottled
water and tap water use on our campuses. Look for an online survey
in the new year to provide your opinion.

Toby Rowe is Memorial’s sustainability co-ordinator. She
welcomes your comments on this topic. You can e-mail
sustain@mun.ca. This article first appeared in the winter 2008
issue of The Communicator, Memorial's employee and pensioner
newsletter.